Last-minute changes to deadlines for national qualifications by Scotland’s exam body will see many teachers having to shoehorn five months work into four, the country’s largest teaching union says.
The EIS, education directors and secondary headteachers have all hit out at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) decision - revealed to schools in a letter last week - to bring forward the deadline for changes to National 5 unit assessment entries from the end of March to the end of February.
Larry Flanagan, EIS general secretary, said the decision would heap pressure on schools and called for the SQA to stop making changes to its processes midway through the school year.
Teachers now had four months, he said, to figure out how they were going to claw back the four weeks of teaching time they had effectively lost. The SQA has, however, disputed this, saying the decision would not “directly affect when the assessment of units is completed in schools and colleges”.
Mr Flanagan said: “To make changes to the dates for unit entry at the end of October creates additional pressure on schools. Teachers now have four months to find four weeks of teaching time, given that if you have finished the units, you have essentially finished teaching the course.”
The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES), said the body had “major concerns” that the move “would put unnecessary pressure on schools and result in increased late charges”.
Jim Thewliss of secondary heads’ body School Leaders Scotland, said anything that shortened deadlines increased pressure on schools.
“Had it been done before the summer holidays, we could have responded in a more rational way,” Mr Thewliss added. “To introduce this just now puts pressure on the system and is not helpful.
The SQA said there would be no fees incurred for late changes to unit entries and that the deadline changes only applied to the freestanding units at N5, which the Scottish government has said schools should only use in “exceptional circumstances”
The SNP backed away from scrapping N5 unit assessments altogether last year. The units had been blamed for over-assessment in schools. However, they were retained because, through a process known as recognising positive achievement (RPA), pupils could use them to gain an N4 if they failed the N5 exam.
Their use was meant to be minimal but in reality has been widespread. Last session, 12 per cent of pupils presented for N5 were also put through the required number of units to be eligible for an N4 through RPA.
An SQA spokesman said the deadline for changes to N5 unit assessment entries had been brought forward due to “a significant volume of late submissions” last school year.
Such was the volume - unit entries doubled in March - that it “had a major impact on SQA’s ability to undertake quality assurance”, according to a report published after this year’s exams.
The spokesman continued: “There are no changes to the submission date for course or unit entries (by 9 November 2018 for schools and by 31 January 2019 for colleges).
“With the exception of the freestanding units at SCQF levels 5 and 6, centres can continue to make changes to all other course and unit entries until 31 March 2019. These freestanding units must have their changes submitted by 28 February 2019 to allow them to be eligible for certification in August 2019. This will allow SQA to carry out sufficient quality assurance of these units, which will take place between March and May, in time for August certification.
“This does not directly affect when the assessment of units is completed in schools and colleges - it is confirmation that the entry is live and that it is available for verification between March and May, giving SQA the opportunity to select it for verification.”
